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My Favourite Planet > English > People > Pan |
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Pan
Ancient Greek mythology, religion and art
The Arcadian, goat-footed Pan (Greek, Πᾶν), was the pastoral god of nature, wild places, moutains, woods, shepherds, goatherds, flocks, hunting and rustic music. He was identified with spring, fertility and the generative power of life, and thus also with sex.
His terrible, angry shout caused those who heard it to be seized by great fear and uncontrollable behaviour; the origin of the word panic. He is said to have used this power to help defeat the mythological attack of the Titans on Mount Olympus and the Persian invasion of Attica at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.
According to various myths, Pan's father was either Hermes, Dionysus or Zeus, and his mother a Nymph, either Dryope or Penelope of Mantineia in Arcadia. In later versions of myths, the Nymph Penelope became identified with the wife of Odysseus. None of the older accounts of his parentage appear to explain his appearance as half-man, half-goat. All ancient Greek sources agree that his original home was in Arcadia in the Peloponnese. [1]
"Pan, the dear son of Hermes, with his goat's feet and two horns - a lover of merry noise."
The Homeric Hymn 19, to Pan.
His name may derive either from the Greek paein (πάειν, to pasture) or pan (πάν, all), although other theories have suggested a pre-Greek, Indo-European origin.
He was certainly a primitive god and remained so as the biographies and back-stories other Olympian gods were developed and their personalities made more elevated and sophisticated. While other deities associated with agriculture, hunting and rural settings, such as Dionysus, Demeter and Artemis, were taken into Greek cities and worshipped at ever-grander temples, Pan continued to be seen as belonging to the wild, untamed countryside, and his sanctuaries were more humble, often in caves or among rocks (see a rock-cut shrine in Thasos below).
Pan's rough, semi-bestial appearance and character has led some to believe that he and the other daemons and spirits of nature were much older than other gods, perhaps introduced later into Greek religion. Pan, like Silenus, had a role as a tutor to other deities: he is said to have taught Apollo prophecy and introduced Artemis to hunting and given her hunting dogs. On the other hand, this appears at odds with the complicated mythical genealogies which made him a relatively junior member of the Olympian family.
Although described by Pindar as "Lord of Arcadia", he was a minor god in the pan-Hellenic scheme, and was not among the Twelve Great Gods who lived on Olympus. More probably, the Greeks, and later the Romans, continued to need deities who ruled over particular aspects of life and parts of their world - the cities, the tamed and untamed lands, as well as rivers and the sea - and these retained attributes which seemed appropriate to their realms.
He was often worshipped together with Nymphs, female deities associated with water, vegetation and fertility, in the open air, at springs, rivers, in woods, on mountains and in caves. The cult of the Nymphs was also connected with Hermes, Apollo, Dionysus and local river gods such as Acheloos and Baphyras (at Dion, Macedonia, below Mount Olympus).
At Athens there were several important sanctuaries of Pan and the Nymphs, including those on the north and south slopes of the Acropolis, at the foot of the Hill of the Pnyx, near the River Ilissos, at Eleusis and in mountain caves of Parnes, Penteli and Hymettos (Vari). See Athens Acropolis gallery page 4.
In Greek and Roman art Pan is depicted as half-man, half-goat. Goat's horns grow back and close together from the centre of his head, about half way between the forehead and crown. His hair and beard are thick, long and wild, his eyes are widely spaced, his nose often long and flat, and his lips full.
His legs, covered with thick, shaggy hair, end with the cloven hooves of a goat, and he has a goat's tail. He is shown as being shorter than other gods, but taller than mortals, perhaps indicating his relative status. He is usually naked, often with an erect penis, though sometimes wearing or carrying an animal skin cloak.
He holds or plays his syrinx (σύριγξ, pan pipes) made of hollow reeds of various lengths bound together. He also carries a lagobolon (λᾰγωβόλον; Latin, pedum), a short hunting stick, curved like a walking stick at one end, used for throwing at hares [2]. Presumably, if thrown correctly it could stun or even kill a small animal. The curved end would have also made it useful as a shepherd's crook.
Pan is often shown with Nymphs, particularly in works from shrines of Pan and the Nymphs in which his father Hermes also sometimes features. Where the shrines were underground and in caves they were associated with the underworld and death, and Hermes here fufills his role as Hermes Psychopompos (Guide of Souls).
Pan became increasingly assimilated into the myths and cult of Dionysus following the introduction of his shrines in Athens from 490 BC [3]. In numerous artworks he is shown as one of the companions of Dionysus, part his retinue known as the thiasos. Always shown as smaller than and apparently subserviant to Dionysus, he dances with satyrs and silens as the wine god cavorts drunkenly during one of his adventures (see photos on the Dionysus page of the People section).
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References to Pan on My Favourite Planet |
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The cave of Pan above the Klepsydra spring, on the north slope of the Athens Acropolis. With photos and articles about Pan's arrival in Athens, and other sanctuaries for the god in and around the city:
Athens Acropolis gallery page 4 |
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A marble relief of Pan dancing. From a relief of a procession of Dionysus and Ariadne. From Rome, 110-130 AD.
See photos of the relief on the Dionysus page.
Altes Museum, Berlin. Inv. No. Sk 850. |
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Marble head of Pan.
Made in Athens around 440-430 BC. Said to be from Koropi (Κορωπί), east of Mount Hymettos, Attica.
British Museum, London. Inv. No. GR 1931.6-15.1. |
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Head of a statue of Pan.
Unknown provenance. 2nd half of the 4th century BC.
Thasos Archaeological Museum.
See more sculptures from Thasos depicting Pan below. |
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Head of Pan on a gold coin of Panticapaeum (Παντικάπαιον, Pantikapaion; today Kerch) on the east coast of the Crimea, as a pun on the city's name. Circa 320 BC.
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Inv. No. HCR5267.
See more coins from Panticapaeum below. |
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In the 5th century BC Herodotus recounted the tale of the Athenian runner Pheidippides meeting Pan at Mount Parthenion in the Peloponnese. The goat-footed god complained that the Athenians had been neglecting him. After they duly dedicated a shrine to him in a cave on the north slope of the Acropolis, he came to their assistance against the Persian invasion at Marathon in 490 BC (see Athens Acropolis gallery page 4).
Around 600 years later, the Roman author Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανός ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, circa 125-180 AD) humorously portrayed Pan as a tax-paying naturalized foreigner (metic) in Athens, complaining that the Athenians do not pay him the respect he feels he is entitled to, and criticizing philosophers.
(Justice and Hermes are conversing in the porch of the Academy, Athens.)
Justice: Before you go, Hermes, tell me who this is coming along; a man with horns and a pipe and shaggy legs.
Hermes: Why, you must know Pan, most festive of all Dionysus's followers? He used to live on Mount Parthenius: but at the time of the Persian expedition under Datis, when the barbarians landed at Marathon, he volunteered in the Athenian service; and ever since then he has had the cave yonder at the foot of the Acropolis, a little past the Pelasgicum, and pays his taxes like any other naturalized foreigner. Seeing us so near at hand, I suppose he is coming up to make his compliments.
Pan: Hail, Justice and Hermes!
Justice: Hail, Pan, chief of Satyrs in dance and song, and most gallant of Athens' soldiers!
Pan: But what brings you here, Hermes?
Hermes: Justice will explain; I must be off to the Acropolis on my errand.
Justice: Zeus has sent me down, Pan, to preside in the law court. And how do you like Athens?
Pan: Well, the fact is, I am a good deal disappointed: they do not treat me with the consideration to which I am entitled, after repelling that tremendous barbarian invasion. All they do is to come up to my cave two or three times a year with a particularly high-scented goat, and sacrifice him: I am permitted to look on whilst they enjoy the feast, and am complimented with a perfunctory dance. However, there is some joking and merrymaking on the occasion, and that I find rather fun.
Justice: And, Pan, have they become more virtuous under the hands of the philosophers?
Pan: Philosophers? Oh! people with beards just like mine; sepulchral beings, who are always getting together and jabbering?
Justice: Those are they.
Pan: I can't understand a word they say; their philosophy is too much for me. I am mountain-bred; smart city-language is not in my line; sophists and philosophers are not known in Arcadia. I am a good hand at flute or pipe; I can mind goats, I can dance, I can fight at a pinch, and that is all. But I hear them all day long, bawling out a string of hard words about virtue, and nature, and ideas, and things incorporeal. They are good enough friends when the argument begins, but their voices mount higher and higher as they go on, and end in a scream; they get more and more excited, and all try to speak at once; they grow red in the face, their necks swell, and their veins stand out, for all the world like a flute-player on a high note. The argument is turned upside down, they forget what they are trying to prove, and finally go off abusing one another and brushing the sweat from their brows; victory rests with him who can show the boldest front and the loudest voice, and hold his ground the longest. The people, especially those who have nothing better to do, adore them, and stand spellbound under their confident bawlings. For all that I could see, they were no better than humbugs, and I was none too pleased at their copying my beard. If there were any use in their noise, if the talking did any good to the public, I should not have a word to say against them: but, to tell you the plain unvarnished truth, I have more than once looked out from my peep-hole yonder and seen them -
Justice: Hush, Pan. Was not that Hermes making the proclamation?
Lucian, The Double Indictment (or Trials by Jury; Greek, Δὶς κατηγορούμενος; Latin, Bis Accusatus sive Tribunalia).
The works of Lucian of Samosata Volume III (of four). Translated by H. W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler. Oxford University Press, 1905. At Project Gutenberg. |

Marble statuette of Pan sitting cross-legged on a rock covered by an animal pelt.
Pentelic Marble. 2nd century BC, probably a copy of a 4th century BC work. Found in the Olympieion, Athens.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Inv. No. 683. |
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Marble statuette of Pan sitting cross-legged on a rock covered by an animal pelt.
120-140 AD. Found in the South Stoa of the Forum of Ancient Corinth.
Corinth Archaeological Museum. Inv. No. S 2385. |
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Small terracotta figurine of Pan playing his syrinx, sitting with crossed goat's feet on a rock. He wears an animal-skin cloak. [4]
Classical-Hellenistic period. Found in Amphipolis, Macedonia.
Amphipolis Archaeological Museum. |
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Terracotta figurine of Pan playing his syrinx, sitting with crossed goat's feet on a rock.
Around 400 BC. From Kerameikos, Athens. Height 9.5 cm.
Kerameikos Archaeological Museum. Inv. No. T 1057. |
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Small terracotta votive figurine of Pan holding his syrinx (pan pipes).
Made in Sicily around 410 BC. Excavated by G. Dennis at Gela, Sicily.
British Museum. GR 1863.7-28.281 (Terracotta 1169). |
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Terracotta votive figurine of Pan, walking or dancing and playing his syrinx.
Around 400-350 BC. From the Cave of the Leibethrid Nymphs, at Agia Triada, near Koroneia, Boeotia, central Greece. [5]
Thebes Archaeological Museum. |
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A ceramic nuptial lebes, the lid of which is in the form of a figure of Pan, sitting on a rock and holding a lagobolon in his left hand.
4th century BC. One of several vessels from a Samnite cremation burial,
found in Tomb 23 in the necropolis at Larino, the location of the Samnite city Larinum, Campobasso province, Molise region, south-central Italy. [6]
The two circular handles of the lebes, which have survived but are broken off, are in the form of snakes, thought to be related to the cult of Dionysus,
adopted by the Samnites from the Greeks in Magnae Graecia (southern Italy).
See also:
the head of Hermes on the lid of a ceramic vessel from Larino
Dionysian imagery on ancient artefacts from Samnium |
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An unusual terracotta figurine of Pan with his arms raised above his head.
Excavated in the area of the Thesmophorion of Pella, Macedonia. 4th - 2nd century BC.
Pella Archaeological Museum. |
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A terracotta incense burner with figures of a Satyr (left) and Pan golding a syrinx.
Excavated in Pella, Macedonia.
Pella Archaeological Museum. |
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Terracotta incense burner in the form of a bust of Pan playing a syrinx.
From the Sanctuary of the Mother of Gods, Lefkopetra, Imathia, Macedonia. 3rd - 2nd century BC.
Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum. |
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Ceramic censer (incense burner) in the form of a bust, described by the museum as a satyr.
Hellenistic period. From Lefkopetra, Macedonia, Greece.
Veria Archaeological Museum. Inv. No. Π 8610. |
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A sherd (fragment) of an Athenian black-figure vessel with a depiction of goat-headed Pan playing a diaulos (double pipes) at a symposium in honour of Dionysus.
Made in Athens around 490 BC.
Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam. Inv. No. 2117.
In Greek and Roman art Pan was most often depicted with goat's legs and hoofs, and sometimes with a tail. He was rarely shown with a goat's head, the type of representation of a god usually
associated with other ancient cultures, especially Egyptian. A notable example is an ithyphallic goat-headed Pan pursuing a goatherd on an Attic red-figure bell krater, the name-vase of the
Pan Painter, circa 470 BC. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Inv. No. 19,185.
See also a bronze figurine of Pan with a goat's head below. |
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Bronze figurine of Pan with a goat's head, raising his right hand to shade his eyes as he looks far across the countryside.
Around 440-400 BC. From the sanctuary of Artemis Hemera at Lousoi (Λουσοί), Arcadia, south of the modern town of Kalavryta (ancient Kynaitha), Achaia, Greece. Height 9.4 cm.
The site of Lousoi on the south side of Mount Lykaion, mentioned by Pausanias (Description of Greece, 8.18.7), was discovered
in 1897 by archeologists Wilhelm Dörpfeld and Adolf Wilhelm. The latter excavated the Artemis sanctuary with Wolfgang Reichel 1898-1899 for the Austrian Archaeological
Institute at Athens. It is apparently not known how this and other finds ended up in Berlin.
Antikensammlung, Berlin State Museums (SMB). Inv. No. Misc. 8642,1. Acquired in 1898. |
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Bronze figurine of Pan, thought to be depicted in a dancing movement and perhaps snapping the fingers of his raised right hand. In his left hand he originally held a lagobolon.
450-440 BC. From the sanctuary of Zeus, Olympia, Peloponnese, Greece.
Pan was still worshipped at Olympia until the final years of the sanctuary at the end of the 4th century AD, and two altars were dedicated to him there.
Olympia Archaeological Museum. |
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A fragmentary terracotta votive figurine of Pan.
Late 3rd century BC. Found in the Leonidaion at the Sanctuary of Zeus, Olympia, Greece.
The ithyphallic figure stands with his goat's legs astride and appears to be leaning back
against a rock or tree stump. In his lowered right arm he holds one end of his lagobolon, the other end of which rests on the ground. His left shoulder and arm are covered by an
animal skin on which there is the face of what appears to be a lion.
Olympia Archaeological Museum. |
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A bronze stylus with a handle in the form of Pan playing his syrinx. The front of the upper end (eraser) is decorated with a palmette. An inscription on the back states
that it was dedicated by Anthemos to the Child and Kabiros.
Around 400-350 BC. Possibly from the sanctuary of the Kabiroi, Thebes.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Inv. No. 7848. |
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Marble statuette of Pan holding a syrinx
From the Stoa of Antigonos, Delos. 150-100 BC.
Delos Archaeological Museum. Inv. No. 4138. |
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Marble statuette of Pan playing his syrinx and holding a lagobolon in his left hand. Originally part of a statue group.
Roman, Early 3rd century AD. From Tirnovo (Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria). Height 67.5 cm.
Istanbul Archaeological Museum. Inv. No. 26 T. Cat. Mendel 593. |
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Torso of a statuette of Pan from Thasos.
From the Passage of the Theoroi, Thasos. Late 3rd - early 2nd century BC.
Thasos Archaeological Museum. |
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Altar with an ithyphallic relief of Pan from Thasos.
Found in the ancient city of Thasos, Greece. 1st - 2nd century AD.
hasos Archaeological Museum.
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Pan, bearded and naked, is shown with long, upright horns an erect penis. He is standing in front of, or perhaps sitting on a goat and holding it by its horns with his right hand. In his left hand he holds a hefty-looking lagobolon, a hunting stick for throwing at hares. A cloak, perhaps of animal skin, hangs from his left forearm. Now badly worn, when first carved, and presumably painted, this relief must have been an impressive work. |
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The rock-cut shrine of Pan on the acropolis of Thasos.
Dated on stylistic grounds to the 4th century BC.
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The remains of a very low relief on the shrine are now almost impossible to make out.
A semicircular cavity, hewn in the sloped rockface, contains the relief in the form of a temple pediment, within which Pan rests on a rock, playing his syrinx in a rural setting, flanked on either side by three standing goats. On the pediment's roof two goats face each other on either side of a kantharos (drinking cup) on the apex. Vine branches above the pediment and offering tables with vine vessels at each end of the cavity indicate Pan's close association with Dionysus.
"It is not proper for herdsmen to play the syrinx at midday. I fear Pan who is now resting after the tiring hunt."
Theocritus, Idylls, I, 15-18. 3rd century BC. |
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The small figure of Pan playing his syrinx on the Thasos shrine relief. |
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A nanny-goat and her kid in a field on the edge of Thasos town. |
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Marble statue of Pan.
Parian marble. 1st century AD copy of a 4th century BC original. Found in Sparta, Peloponnese, Greece.
Smiling Pan wears an animal skin cloak and holds his pan pipes (syrinx) in his left hand. His goat's legs and feet have been restored.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Inv. No. 252. |
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Marble table support in the form of a pillar, with a depiction of Pan.
Pentelic marble. 2nd century AD copy of a 4th century BC original. Found in Piraeus, Attica, Greece.
Similar to the statue above, with Pan wearing an animal skin as a cape and holding his syrinx in his left hand.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Inv. No. 251.
Part of another marble statue of this type, without its head, was
found by Edward Daniel Clarke (1769-1822) near the Cave of Pan
on the north slope of the Athenian Acropolis, and is now in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Inv. No. GR.4.1865. [7]
Another is in the Sikyon Archaeological Museum, west of Corinth. |
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Two symmetric marble statues of Pan, known as the "Della Valle Satyrs".
The statue on the right is perhaps an original of the late Hellenistic period. That on the left may be a Roman period copy, perhaps 2nd century AD.
Left, Luna marble. Height 283 cm. Right, Greek marble. Height 279 cm. Courtyard, Palazzo Nuovo, Capitoline Museums, Rome. Inv. Nos. MC 4 and MC 16.
From the Della Valle Collection, then the Albani Collection.
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The statues, which may have been telamons (architectural supports, like caryatids), were discovered in the 1490s in the area of the Theatre of Pompey, in the Campus Martius, Rome. The square at the location where they are thought to have been discovered became known as the "Piazza dei Satiri".
They were first part of the collection of Cardinal Andrea della Valle (1463-1534), hence the name "Della Valle Satyrs". During the 16th century were displayed among several other ancient sculptures in the courtyard of Palazzo Della Valle, where they were drawn and copied by a number of artists. Originally without lower arms, they were restored by Giovanne da Udina (1487–1564) to decorate a pilaster in the garden of the palazzo. In 1513 they were temporarily employed as decoration for a triumphal arch in the Via Papale to celebrate the accession of Pope Leo X.
Later they were in the collection of Cardinal Alessandro Albani for a short period before being moved to the Capitoline Museum in 1734. They now stand in niches in the Cortile (Courtyard), on either side of the Marforio fountain (from the Martis Forum), which features a colossal 2nd century AD statue of a river god restored to represent the god Okeanos (Inv. No. MC 1).
Both statues show Pan standing naked apart from a nebris (panther skin, see Dionysus) around one shoulder and upper torso. In one hand he holds a bunch of grapes, and with the other supports a basket of grapes which rests on his head.
Although the figures mirror each other, there are several differences, particularly the heads and treatment of the surfaces. It is thought that at least one of the figures was reworked. Recent research indicates that they were decorative rather than supportive, and it is now doubted that they were part of the sculptural decoration of the Theatre of Pompey. It has been suggested that they stood at the Temple of Bacchus. |
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An inscribed marble votive relief dedicated to the Nymphs, around 360 BC.
Found in 1952 in the Cave of the Nymphs, Mount Penteli, Attica. Height 53, width 75 cm.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Inv. No. 4465.
The separate cylindrical base of the relief, Inv. No. 4465a.
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This relief was found in the same cave as the relief below (Inv. No. 4466), near the ancient marble quarries on Mount Penteli (Πεντέλη), known in Antiquity as Pentelikon (Πεντελικόν) and also as Brilissos (Βριλησσός, or Brilittos, Βριληττός). It has been suggested that both reliefs may possibly have been made in the same workshop.
The scene is set in a naiskos (small temple). On the left are three Nymphs, Hermes and Pan, standing in a row, facing right. The latter holds his pipes (syrinx), a lagobolon and a hare. The inscription below the relief states that it was dedicated by Telephanes, Nikeratos and Demophilos, who are depicted at a smaller scale, as bearded men standing on the right and facing the deities.
Τηλεφάνης, Νικήρατος, Δημόφιλος ταῖς Νύμφαις ἀνέθεσαν
Telephanes, Nikeratos, Demophilos Dedicated to the Nymphs
Inscription SEG 12:166.
The earliest known Attic relief dedicated to the Nymphs, around 430-420 BC, was found in the Sanctuary of Asklepios and Hygieia, on the South Slope of the Athens Acropolis. National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Inv. No. 1392.
See similar votive reliefs of Hermes, Pan and the Nymphs on the Hermes page. |
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Marble votive relief dedicated to the Nymphs, around 330-320 BC.
Found in 1952 in the Cave of the Nymphs, Mount Penteli, Attica. Height 70 cm, width 110 cm. Height of base 104 cm.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Inv. No. 4466.
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The scene is similar to the relief above (Inv. No. 4465), except that it is set in a cave. Such votive reliefs set in caves were made from the late 5th to the 1st century BC.
The figures, from left to right: three Nymphs, one sitting and two standing; Hermes standing, wears a chlamys (short cloak) and holds his kerykeion (caduceus) in his left hand; Pan seated on a rock, holds his syrinx (pan pipes); a nude youth pours wine from a oinochoe (wine jug) into the kantharos (wine cup) held by Agathemeros, the dedicator of the relief. As mortals, these last two figures are shown at a smaller scale. The features of the balding, bearded Agathemeros are finely carved, and this may be a portrait. He wears a himation (cloak), and as well as the kantharos in his right hand, he also holds a bunch of grapes in the left. He may be about to offer a libation (a sacrifice of wine).
The three-line dedication is inscribed in large letters on the front of the separate rectangular limestone base on which the relief stands (see photo below).
Ἀγαθήμερος Νύνφαις ἀνέθηκε
Agathemeros to the Nymphs dedicated [it]
Inscription SEG 29:195. |
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The dedication of Agathemeros to the Nymphs, inscribed on the rectangular limestone block on which the relief above stood.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Inv. No. 4466a. |
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Marble Votive relief depicting Pan with the three Horai (Seasons) in a cave.
Pentelic marble. 330-320 BC. From Sparta (Laconia) or Megalopolis (Arcadia). Height 55 cm, width 73 cm.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Inv. No. NM 1449.
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The Horai (singular, Ὧρα, Hora; plural, Ὧραι, Horai, portion of time, hour, season) were the personifications of the three seasons of ancient Greece who were later seen as goddesses of order and natural justice. They presided over the movements of the heavenly constellations by which the year and agricultural activity were measured, and guarded the gates of Olympus.
Here the Seasons are shown dancing to the music of the syrinx played by ithyphallic Pan, who crouches on a rock. They wear long chitons and himatia, the two rear figures holding onto a corner of the garment of the one before her. The seasons from left to right: Spring carries ears of corn in her left hand (harvest), Summer has bare arms, and Winter has drawn her himation around her arm and torso.
They were given different names in various traditions, but most common are two trios, either:
Thallo (Θαλλώ, Bringer of Blossoms), Auxo (Αὐξώ, Increaser, as in plant growth) and Carpo (Καρπώ, Food Bringer);
or Eunomia (Εὐνομία, Good Order, Good Pasture), Eirene (Εἰρήνη, Peace) and Dike (Δίκη, Justice).
The right side and left corner of the relief have been restored with plaster.
Photo © Konstanze Gundudis |
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Marble votive relief in the shape of a cave depicting Pan playing the syrinx (Pan pipes), followed by Nymphs dancing around an altar. At the top of the
cave are goats, and on the bottom left is the head of the river god Acheloos.
Late 4th century BC. Found at Eleusis, Attica.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Inv. No. 1445.
Photo © Konstanze Gundudis |
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An Archaistic votive relief showing three Nymphs walking hand-in-hand and being led by Hermes,
as Psychopompos (Guide of Souls), into a cave representing the underworld. They stand before
an altar, to the left of which sits Plouton (Πλούτον, also known as Hades, ᾍδης), the god of the
underworld, holding a rhyton (drinking horn). Pan looks on from above, playing his syrinx and holding a lagobolon (curved hunting stick). Hermes wears his trademark petasos (πέτασος,
broad-brimmed hat) and a chlamys (χλαμύς, short cloak).
Hellenistic period. Pentelic marble.
Barracco Museum, Rome. Inv. No. MB 176. |
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An inscribed marble votive relief depicting a Nymph and a herm of Pan.
Around 100-80 BC. From Tralleis (Aydin, Turkey).
According to the inscription, the relief was dedicated to the Nymph and Pan in gratitude for a miraculous healing. The crouching, naked Nymph reaches
for a water vessel. Above her a votive plaque hangs from a tree.
Altes Museum, Berlin. Inv. No. Sk 1554. |
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The head of Pan with double-bent horns, pointed ears and wild spiky locks, on a ceramic antefix (end of a roof tile).
From Taranto, Italy. Around 350 BC.
British Museum. GR 1884.3-22.3 (Terracotta 1364). Donated by J. R. Anderson.
Read more about antefixes in Medusa part 4. |
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A similar terracotta antefix with the head of Pan. The bottom right hand corner and part of the right side have been restored.
From Taranto. Hellenistic period.
Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam. |
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A gold stater (left) and a drachm (at the same scale) of Panticapaeum (Παντικάπαιον, Pantikapaion; today Kerch) on the east coast of the
Crimea, with the head of Pan as a pun on the city's name. 4th century BC.
The coins show Pan as an older man with wild, dishelleved hair and beard. On the stater he wears a diadem with ivy leaves.
Numismatic Collection, Bode Museum, Berlin. |
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Staters (at the same scale) of Kyzikos (Κύζικος), Mysia (Erdek, Turkey), with heads of Pan. Circa 400-330 BC.
As in the stater from Panticapaeum above, the coin on the left shows Pan as a mature, bearded man. Below the head is tuna fish, the symbol of Kyzikos. On
the right he appears as a clean-shaven young man with short hair and a diadem.
Numismatic Collection, Bode Museum, Berlin. |
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Head of Pan on a silver tetradrachm of Antigonus II Gonatas (Ἀντίγονος B΄ Γονατᾶς, circa 319-239 BC) king of Macedon, of the Antigonid dynasty, son of Demetrios
Poliorketes. Minted during the second period of his reign, 272-239 BC.
Diameter 31.3 mm, weight 16.92 grams.
Civic Archaeological Museum, Milan. Inv. No. Brera, n. 1184.
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The horned head of Pan, facing left, wearing a goat skin, with a lagobolon over his shoulder, in the centre of a Macedonian shield, decorated with seven eight-pointed stars within double crescents.
The other side of the coin in the museum can not be seen, but according to the labelling the inscription reads ANTIΓONOY BAΣIΛEYΣ. Between each of the words stands armed Athena Alkidemos (Ἀθῆνη Ἀλκίδημος, defender of the people, demos), the patron goddess of Pella, Macedonia, in a fighting pose similar to Athena Promachos. She is viewed from behind, advancing to the left, brandishing a thunderbolt in her raised right hand, and holding a shield decorated with the aegis on her left arm. There is a crested Macedonian helmet in inner left field. The figure is often referred to by numismatists as Athena Promachos or Athena Alkis.
Several coins of this type have survived, and are thought to have been minted at Amphipolis, Macedonia. Usually the inscription reads BAΣIΛEΩΣ ANTIΓONOY. |
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A bust of Pan with his lagobolon on a mosaic panel.
Hellenistic. From Panormos, Mysia (Bandirma, northwestern Turkey). Height 73 cm, width 62 cm.
Istanbul Archaeological Museum. Inv. No. 1608. |
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Dancing Pan with his lagobolon and animal skin cloak. Detail from a Roman Period floor mosaic from Ephesus depicting the myth of Dionysus discovering the sleeping Ariadne on Naxos.
Izmir Archaeological Museum, Turkey.
See more information about this mosaic on Selçuk gallery 2. |
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Mosaic panel with a bust of Pan.
Reign of Antinonus Pius (138-161 AD). Found in a Roman villa in Genazzano.
Part of a large highly-detailed floor mosaic with a complex illusionistic geometric pattern, which contained seven roundels with images, only two of which have survived. The other
roundel shows a satyr, and the central panel may have featured a bust of Dionysus.
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, National Museum of Rome. |
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Small mosaic panel with Pan and the Nymph Pitys or a Hamadryad (tree Nymph).
Supposedly from Pompeii, although it has been suggested that it is a modern forgery. 25 x 27 cm.
National Archaeological Museum, Naples. Inv. No. 27708 (The museum label incorrectly states 227708). From the Farnese Collection.
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Pan lusted after the Nymph Pitys (Πίτυς, pine) and chased her, until Boreas (Βορέας), the god of the north wind, transformed her into a pine tree to protect her. The Hamadryads (Ἁμαδρυάδες) were dryads (a type of Nymph) who lived in trees. The excited god appears either surprised to find that his quarry has escaped him, or delighted to discover such a voluptuous tree.
So far I have found no scholarly discussion concerning the authenticity or otherwise of this mosaic, or of its history. It is known to have been in the collection of the Duke Carafa of Noja (the Noja Collection) in Naples, then passed into the Farnese Collection, much of which now forms the inventory of the Naples Museum. It was displayed for many years in the Gabinetto segreto (Secret Cabinet), the museum's small department of "obscene" ancient objects, and was mentioned briefly and without comment in some guide books [8].
The mosaic has since been considered safe enough, at least in terms of its imagery – evidently no longer seen as "obscene" or "pornographic" by today's standards – to be moved from the dark corner of the Cabinet into the main rooms of the museum. It is now exhibited among the ancient mosaics excavated at Pompeii (including the "Alexander Mosaic"), Herculaneum and other sites in Campania, the provenance of which is certain. Its museum label merely states: "Pan ed Amadriade. Collezione Farnese". However, the information board at the entrance to the Gabinetto segreto, presumably written when the mosaic was still there, hints that the work may not be kosher when describing the Cabinet's history:
"Statues, items of jewellery, oil lamps and miniature paintings adorned with erotic subjects were prized by aristocratic collectors; they were a source of artistic inspiration, fake reproductions (mosaic with Pan and nymph: inv. 27708), literary erudition – clarifying ancient authors' allusions to sensuality – or simply prurient curiosity."
A 16th century book illustration by Giulio Bonasone (see below), appears to provide evidence that the mosaic is a modern (i.e. after the mid 15th century) fake or reproduction. The image is from Achille Bocchi's Symbolicarum quaestionum de Universo genere quas serio ludebat, published in Bologna in 1574. Many of the illustrations in the book feature figures evidently copied from the recently discovered ancient works of art that decorated the houses of aristocrats and top clergymen in Italy from the early Renaissance, notably sculptures of Minerva (Athena) and Hercules (Herakles). The last illustration in the volume, number 150, shows a scene almost identical to the mosaic. There are several differences, including the twisting of the bottom of the Nymph/tree, the appearance of a blowing Boreas in the top right corner and the background landscape with a fortified settlement. These may be additions of Bonasone's imagination. If the mosaic is a "reproduction", what did it reproduce? Is the illustration a copy of the mosaic or some other (unknown) work, or was the mosaic a forgery copied from this print or a similar (contemporary) drawing?
A small part of the long buried and forgotten ancient city of Pompeii was uncovered by chance during the construction of a water channel from the river Sarno in 1599, twenty five years after the the publication of the book. At the time it was not realized that this was the location of Pompeii, the finds there did not excite much interest and excavations only began in 1748, following the rich discoveries at Herculaneum. However, it is known that "graverobbers" had been active in the area some time before, and several ancient artefacts had found their way on to the art market.
One wonders if the work has been studied or analyzed in recent years. Mosaics are difficult to date since they are made of inorganic materials and the techniques and tools used by mosaic makers have not changed significantly since antiquity. There still may be clues to be found from the materials used for the tesserae or how they were worked and cut, or the composition of the cement. The evidence provided by the image itself, its composition, Pan's disproportionately large hands, the "modern" looking female form and the clumsy meander border, may be more difficult to evaluate, as many genuine ancient mosaics were (and still are) badly restored, sometimes resulting in the complete destruction of the nature of the original image.
If the work is a fake, should it remain among the ancient mosaics without some kind of notice? And if there is a chance that it may be ancient, why has it not been subjected to a scholarly examination? |
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Pan and Hamadryad or Pitys in a 16th century book illustration by Giulio Bonasone (circa 1498-1580).
Source: Achille Bocchi (1488–1562), Symbolicarum quaestionum
de Universo genere quas serio ludebat, Book 5, plate 150, page 354. Società Tipografica bolognese, Bologna, 1574. At the Internet Archive. |
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Part of a floor mosaic showing Pan carrying the infant infant Dionysus on his shoulders.
In situ on the site of a peristyle courtyard of the the Byzantine Great Palace (Palatium Magnum), of Constantinople. Late 6th or early 7th century AD.
Great Palace Mosaic Museum, Istanbul.
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The fragmentary section of the enormous 170-180 square metre floor mosaic is thought to be part of a depiction of Dionysus' triumphal procession from India, known from several other ancient artworks (see the Dionysus page). Unusually, the infant Dionysus is shown being carried by Pan. He holds on to the horns of the goat-footed god, who carries a lagobolon in his left hand, and perhaps a syrinx in the right. Part of an elephant ridden by a man is shown following them. |
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Part of a floor mosaic showing a centaur and Pan with his syrinx.
From Jerusalem. Late 5th - early 6th century AD.
Detail of the central panel from a large floor mosaic depicting Orpheus. The mosaic artist is thought to have used the image of Orpheus and
other figures and elements from earlier pagan iconography to convey Christian concepts such as the "immortality of the spirit".
Istanbul Archaeological Museum. Inv. No. 1642 T. Cat. Mendel 1306. |
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Relief of Pan on the left side of the "Little Arch of Galerius" in Thessaloniki.
Imperial workshop, Thessaloniki, circa 308-311 AD. See below.
Pan dances while playing his syrinx. In his left hand he holds his lagobolon. His left foot rests on the lid of a basket (standing on a low base or altar) from
which a snake is emerging. The basket has been interpreted as the cista mystica (sacred kiste), and Pan is shown in this pose in several depictions of him, usually
in assocation with Dionysian scenes, particularly the Triumph of Dionysus. Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum. |
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The front of the "Little Arch of Galerius" (Μικρό τόξο Γαλερίου). Found in 1957, south of the Octagon, central Thessaloniki.
The arch is known as the "Little Arch of Galerius" to disinguish it from the larger triumphal Arch of Galerius which stands on the Odos Egnatia, central Thessaloniki.
Sculpted from a single marble block, it was part of a small temple of the palace of Emperor Galerius. The decorative reliefs include medals with portraits of Galerius
and his wife Augusta Galeria Valeria, supported by figures of eastern subjects (perhaps Persians). Between the medals two winged erotes (cupids) hold a
garland. On the right side is a Nymph, and on the intrados (inside of the arch) a medal with a head of Dionysus.
Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum. Inv. no. ΜΘ 2466. |
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A much-restored marble statue of a youthful, beardless Pan, with horns and pointed ears, holding a syrinx in his left hand, and a lagobolon in the right hand.
Late Hellenistic or Roman Imperial period. From Italy. One of six surviving sculptures of a type thought to be copies of an original
by Polykleitos the Elder or his school. Height 109.8 cm.
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden, Netherlands. Inv. No. Pb 98. From the Papenbroek Collection. Bequeathed by Gerard van Papenbroek (1673-1743) to Leiden University. |
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Marble statue of a pensive-looking Pan.
The top of the head is missing as well as both forearms, the right leg from the thigh and the left leg below the knee. Statues of this type usually show
Pan holding a syrinx in the left hand and a lagobolon in the right.
Medium-grained white Greek marble. Early Roman Imperial period copy of a Hellenistic Classicistic original. Found in 1902 in the remains of a large residence in the Via Tasso, Rome. Height 75 cm.
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, National Museum of Rome. Inv. No. 52389. [9] |
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A marble head of Pan.
Roman period. Found in 2004 in the Agora of Smyrna (Izmir, Turkey). Height 16 cm, width 13 cm, depth 9 cm.
Department of Sculpture, Izmir Museum of History and Art. Inv. No. 022.618. |
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Pan and a maenad at erotic play. Detail of a large marble krater with reliefs of Bacchic scenes.
Pentelic marble. Found in 1872 in the Horti Vettiani, Rome.
Palazzo dei Conservatori, Capitoline Museums, Rome. Inv. No. MC 1202. |
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Marble statue group of Aphrodite, Eros and Pan. Right, a close-up of Pan from the group.
Parian marble. Circa 100 BC. Height 129 cm, including base 155 cm.
Found in 1904 in the "House of the Poseidoniastai of Beryttos" (a guild of worshippers of the god Poseidon from Beirut), Delos, Greece. The inscription
on the base is a dedication by Dionysos of Beryttos to his ancestoral gods:
"Dionysos, son of Zenon who was son Theodoros, from Beryttos dedicated [this offering] to the ancestral gods for his own benefit and that of his children."
The nude Aphrodite fends off the erotic advances of the goat-footed Pan, and threatens him with her sandal. A tiny winged Eros tries to assist the goddess by
holding onto Pan's right horn. All three figures appear to be smiling, and the tone of the work is playful. Pan's face has been given remarkable goat-like features.
His lagobolon rests against the tree stump which also supports his left leg.
National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Inv. No. 3335. |
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Heavily restored marble statue group of Pan and Daphnis.
Roman period copy of a Hellenistic original by Heliodoros of Rhodes (active around 100 BC). Coarse-grained crystalline marble.
An erotic scene of Pan teaching the young shepherd Daphnis to play the syrinx. Probably designed to decorate a garden. Both heads and Daphnis' right arm are 18th century restorations. Height 132 cm.
Palazzo Altemps, National Museum of Rome. Inv. No. 8571. Boncompagni Ludovisi Collection, from the Cesi Collection. Purchased by the Italian government in 1901.
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The mortal shepherd Daphnis (Δάφνις) was said to have lived in Sicily, although some ancient authors wrote that he was from Crete or other places. He was either the son or lover (eromenos) of Hermes, and his mother was a Nymph. He was credited with the invention of bucolic (pastoral) poetry.
Other similar marble statue groups of Pan and Daphnis have been dated from the late Hellenistic to early Imperial period. All were found in Italy, and have been restored. They include:
An Antonine period copy. National Archaeological Museum, Naples. Inv. No. 6329. From the Farnese Collection. Height 158 cm.
Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Inv. No. 92. From the Cesi Collection. Parian marble. Height 140 cm.
Statue of Daphnis, seated and holding a syrinx. Uffizi Gallery, Florence. Inv. No. 253. From the Valle Collection. Parian marble. Height 129 cm.
"Pan and Apollo (or Marsyas and Olympos or Pan and Daphnis). Roman statue of late Greek type, of Pan teaching Olympos (or Daphnis), the blind shepherd boy to play Pan's invention, the syrinx (reed pipes arranged in a row of ascending length), both seated on a rock over which is spread a lion skin. Olympos (Daphnis) restored with an antique head, probably originally of Dionysos." Petworth House, Sussex, England. Inv. No. NT 486318. From the Wyndham Collection. Found in Rome around 1726, and restored by Pietro Pacilli (1716-1772) and Vincenzo Pacetti (circa 1745-1820). Height 146.5 cm, width 95.5 cm, depth 56.3 cm. See: nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/486318 |
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A limestone relief of a boy in Roman dress playing a syrinx (Pan pipes) with 14 pipes.
3rd century AD. From Oxyrhynchos (Ὀξύρρυγχος, today Al Bahnasa), Middle Egypt. Said to be from the temple of Serapis. Height 56 cm, width 52 cm, depth 10.8 cm.
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden, Netherlands. Inv. No. F 1959/8.2. |
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The bottom of a terracotta relief bowl with a depiction of Pan groping a Nymph as she sits on a rock playing a lyre. To the right, a herm stands on a rock.
From Egypt, probably 1st century BC.
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg. Inv. No. 1941.2. |
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A Roman fresco in Rome labelled "Fresco with Pan and Maenad".
Painted plaster, 193-211 AD.
Antiquarium Communale, Capitoline Museums, Rome.
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One of several frescos, depicting domestic, rustic and mildly erotic scenes, found in private houses near the Via Nationale in Rome. In this painting a nude male figure wearing a garlanded helmet uncovers a sleeping woman. He does not appear to have horns, and the legs and feet are so crudely drawn that it is difficult to tell whether they are human or goat. The only other indication that he may be the rustic deity is the lagobolon (a crook and hunting stick for throwing at hares) he carries.
The scene is reminiscent of depictions of Dionysus, with Pan and other members of his thiasos, discovering the sleeping Ariadne on Naxos (see Selçuk gallery 2, page 2). Perhaps this artist was wittily putting the male viewer in Dionysus' shoes. On the other hand the sleeping figure may be Hermaphroditus. The alluring subject of the naked sleeping maenad or sleeping Hermaphroditus, viewed from behind, was common during Roman times, and such statues were placed in the men's section of public baths. |
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Fresco with Pan and Hermaphroditus.
From the atrium of the House of the Dioscuri (Casa dei Dioscuri, Regio VI, Insula 9, Casa 6), Pompeii. 1-50 AD.
National Archaeological Museum, Naples. Inv. No. 27700. Secret Cabinet.
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Although several Roman artworks show Hermaphroditus defending herself from erotic advances of Satyrs, here the tables have been turned. It appears that the goat-footed god Pan, shown in other scenes sexually drawn to Aphrodite and even goats (see below), is here trying to escape from Hermaphroditus' grasp. The signal he sends with his turned head and raised right hand says it all. |
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Erotic marble relief of Pan, riding an ithyphallic mule, approaching a hillside shrine.
From Pompeii. Roman copy of a late Hellenistic original.
National Archaeological Museum, Naples. Inv. No. 27712. Secret Cabinet. |
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Marble statue group of Pan copulating with a goat.
Found in the Grand Peristyle of the Villa of the Papyri, Herculaneum, during excavations in 1752. 1st century BC - 1st century AD, thought to be a copy
of a Hellenistic original. Height 44.2 cm, width 47.5 cm. Following its discovery, the sculpture was considered so shocking that it was locked away in a cupboard
for many years and only the king of Naples was allowed to see it.
A Silen is shown in the same way in a relief on a Roman period marble sarcophagus,
circa 210 AD, now in Dresden, depicting a Dionysian scene (see Dionysus).
National Archaeological Museum, Naples. Inv. No. 27709. Secret Cabinet. |
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Marble bust of Pan in the form of the top of a herm. From Contrada Verdura-Fusillo (Ribera), Sicily. Roman period.
Agrigento Regional Archaeological Museum, Sicily. |
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Fragment of a ceramic lamp from Pompeii with the head of Pan.
National Archaeological Museum, Naples. |
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The dedication of terracotta lamps at sanctuaries of Pan appears to have begun in the 3rd century BC, and thereafter became increasingly popular, particularly at Greek cave sanctuaries, in which they were among the most frequent dedications. The fashion may have been a concrete form of a much more ancient ritual practice, perhaps connected with the use of torches in the nocturnal rites of Pan.
"... at Phyle on Parnes, most notably, they were so numerous that they gave the cave its modern name, Lichnospilo; cf. also Vari, where more than a thousand lamps were found (AJA 7, 1903, pages 338-349)."
Philippe Borgeaud, The cult of Pan in ancient Greece, pages 220-221, note 7. Translated by Kathleen Atlass and James Redfield. The University of Chicago Press, 1988. |
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The head of Pan on a ceramic oil lamp.
Roman period. Exhibited in a group of oil lamps from the area of Elis, western Peloponnese, labelled simply: "Lamps. Epitalion and Kaukania. 1st c. BC - 3rd c. AD."
Pyrgos Archaeological Museum. |
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A carnelian gem engraved with the faces of Pan and the Satyr Marsyas, shown back-to-back. The initial letters of their names in Greek, Π and Μ, are inscribed below their respective beards.
Roman period, 1st - 2nd century AD. From Egypt.
Allard Pierson Museum, Amsterdam. Inv. No. 7911. |
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A small marble altar with a relief of Pan as a warrior.
Roman period, 1st - 2nd century AD. Discovered by John Turtle Wood in 1869, near the Temple of Artemis, Ephesus. Height 53 cm, width 24.13 cm.
British Museum. Inv. No. 1872,0405.10 (Sculpture No. 1270). Not on display.
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This very unusual relief depicts Pan with a beardless human face and goat's legs, and wearing armour (helmet, cuirass, short sword and round shield). The small altar was discovered by John Turtle Wood in November 1869 while excavating around the Temple of Artemis, Ephesus. On the back is a crested snake; on the left side is a bucranium (bull's skull) surrounded by an olive wreath beneath rosettes; the right side has a snake, "roughly blocked out" (A. H. Smith) or partly erased.
The altar has been tentatively dated to 1st - 2nd century AD. It seems similar to the type of altars and votive offerings of Roman soldiers around the empire.
John Turtle Wood, Discoveries at Ephesus, page 153. Longmans, Green and Co., London, 1877.
A. H. Smith, A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum Volume 2. British Museum, London, 1906. |
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Relief of a head of Pan on the corner of a sarcophagus.
Roman Imperial period, 2nd century AD.
The large marble sarcophgaus is decorated all around with reliefs of garlands supported by Erotes (figures of Eros), Gorgoneions (heads
of the Gorgon Medusa), and a head of Pan at each corner.
See photos of the sarcophagus in Medusa part 5.
In the courtyard of the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. Inv. No. 513. |
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